Recap: Middle Tennessee vs. Ark-Little Rock

Murfreesboro, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - Shawn Jones recorded a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds as the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders dispatched the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans, 76-59, in a matchup between former Sun Belt Conference rivals at the Murphy Center.

Kerry Hammonds scored a team-high 20 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor for the Blue Raiders (4-0) as they earned their fourth win in a row to start the 2013-14 campaign. Reggie Upshaw provided a spark off the bench with 13 points. Tweety Knight chipped in 11 points, eight assists and four steals.

Will Neighbour paced UALR (0-3) with a game-high 21 points as he converted 11- of-16 attempts at the charity stripe. Neighbour also secured eight rebounds while J.T. Thomas scored 11 points. Leroy Isler went 1-of-7 from the field, but made all eight of his free-throw tries to finish with 10 points.

Middle Tennessee connected on 48.3 percent of its shots from the floor and limited the Trojans to just five makes on 21 field goal tries in the opening 20 minutes of play to take a 40-25 lead into halftime. UALR managed to get the charity stripe for 23 attempts in the first half, but missed eight of the free opportunities.

The Trojans continued to struggle offensively in the second stanza as they missed all nine of their attempts from beyond the arc. The Blue Raiders were held without a make from the field over the final 2:06, but still outscored the visitors by two points in the second half.

Despite the lopsided result, both sides tallied 22 points in the paint. Due to the strong showing by Upshaw, Middle Tennessee's bench outscored UALR's reserves, 19-8.